UK politics has undergone a seismic shift following on from the 2024 general election, with the Conservative Party thrown out of government after 14 years of running the country.
The Labour Party’s Sir Keir Starmer is now the UK’s newest prime minister, forming a massive majority in the House of Commons of more than 170 MPs after winning over 400 of the 650 seats up for grabs. Outgoing PM Rishi Sunak has already announced he is to step down as leader of the Tories, saying he ‘takes responsibility for this loss’.
With Labour gaining such a commanding grasp of power in Westminster, what can the people who live in the UK expect from the party?
Here we run down some of Labour’s biggest commitments it made to the public before the general election. Assuming they keep their promises, you could expect the following:
Labour says it’ll invest in the NHS so that two million more appointments can be made with the health service every single year.
It’ll involve NHS staff being paid more to work in the evenings and weekends to tackle the backlog that has crippled the publicly run service for so long.
“We will bring down waits for cancer appointments with a ‘Fit For the Future Fund’ doubling the number of state-of-the-art MRI and CT scanners in the NHS to ensure early diagnosis,” Labour says. “Under the Tories, the NHS waiting list has tripled, and drastic action needs to be taken to get patients seen and receiving the care they need.”
Labour spent the general election campaign talking about the introduction of a new publicly run energy company called Great British Energy.
It says there will be a focus on expanding renewables and the green industry, with thousands of new jobs available within the green economy. It’ll also reduce the reliance the UK has on foreign sources of energy supplies and become more self-reliant.
“Great British Energy will be owned by the British people, built by the British people and benefit the British people. It will be headquartered in Scotland, invest in clean energy across our country, and make the UK a world leader in floating offshore wind, nuclear power, and hydrogen,” Labour says.
A big talking point during the election debates between Sunak and Starmer, Labour has committed to closing a tax loophole used by private education institutions. The party says the tax from closing this loophole will be then invested in the state school system.
Private schools currently benefit from an unfair tax break that means they avoid paying VAT on fees,” Labour says. Through closing this loophole, Labour will raise vital money needed to improve standards in stretched state schools with more teachers.
“This funding will also help pay for mental health support staff in every school, working to boost the wellbeing of young people, many of whom still suffering the effects of lockdown.”
Starmer says he wants to make the NHS more local and be visible and accessible in your neighbourhoods, with access to a doctor you know by name – a throwback to when we had family doctors.
The party says: “At the heart of Labour’s health policy offer is a commitment to make the NHS a Neighbourhood Health Service as much as a National Health Service.
“Labour will cut red tape, freeing up GPs so they have more time to see patients. We will ensure patients can see the same GP each appointment if they choose to, and we will trial Neighbourhood Health Centres, bringing together family doctors, district nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, and mental health specialists under one roof.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria after winning the 2024 general election (Jeff Moore/PA Wire)
Water companies that pump sewage in to our rivers and oceans will face the full force of the Labour government, with new measures brought in to block bonuses for company top dogs until the messes are cleaned up.
For the most serious cases, Labour will allow the regulator to pursue criminal charges against water bosses,” it says.
On immigration, Labour has committed to stopping the use of hotels to house asylum seekers while their applications are processed.
They say this will free up £8 million every single day while also focusing on identifying and stopping human trafficking.
Labour said: “Labour’s policy to secure Britain’s borders will see the introduction of more staff to process claims and return people to safe countries, clearing the asylum backlog, and a new cross-border police unit smashing criminal people-smuggling gangs by using counter-terror style tactics.”
Labour has committed to closing asylum seeker hotels (Jeff Moore/PA Wire)
Labour says it is going to create dedicated rape units for every police force in the country as well as specialist personnel in every 999 control room.
In the courts, the party says it’ll introduce fast track access to the legal system so that victims can have closure on their individual cases as quickly as possible.
“This will mean that early opportunities for prevention and protection are not missed, and will be followed up with requiring police forces to target dangerous repeat offenders with the tactics and tools normally reserved for counter-terror and serious organised crime investigations, getting serious perpetrators off our streets,” Labour says. “We will also put specialists in the court system to support rape victims, meaning that victims are given better support at every stage.”
The country’s railway network has needed huge investment and reform for a long time. Labour says it will create a new organisation called Great British Railways to help bring about new high standards for all operators to hit, with most of the railways in the UK nationalised within five years.
The organisation will be led by rail professionals and industry experts and be responsible for the day-to-day operational delivery of the railways.
“Labour will create a unified and simplified governance structure that places passengers at the heart of the goal, objectives and incentives for the railway, and to bring train operators under public ownership and control. Public ownership for our railways is about the practical need to deliver better services where they have failed,” the party says.
Starmer will introduce a new ‘geuine living wage’ (Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
Labour has promised to turn the national minimum wage in to a ‘genuine living wage’.
So far no detail has been revealed on what the new wage system and structure would look like, but Labour has said it’ll put an end to age bands for all adults.
Dropping your kids off at primary school early so you can get to work will now be free, with breakfasts provided to all those children present.
It says: “Labour has a plan to improve school attendances that includes the introduction of breakfast clubs for all primary school children in England.
“This would be the first step on the road to a modern childcare system so every child has the best start at school, and parents have more choices about work.”
Featured Image Credit: Jeff Moore/Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
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